Wade Goodwyn

Wade Goodwyn is a NPR National Desk Correspondent covering Texas and the surrounding states.

Reporting for NPR since 1991, Goodwyn covers a wide range of issues from politics and music to breaking news and crime and punishment. His reports have ranged from weather calamities, religion, and corruption, to immigration, obituaries, business, and high profile court cases. Texas has it all, and Goodwyn has covered it.

Over the last 15 years, Goodwyn has reported on many of the nation's top stories. He's covered the implosion of Enron, the trials of Jeff Skilling and Kenneth Lay, and the prosecution of polygamist Warren Jeffs. Goodwyn's reporting has included the siege of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, and the trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in Denver. He covered the Olympic Games in Atlanta and the school shootings in Paducah Ky., Jonesboro, Ark., and Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Among his most recent work has been the wrongful prosecution and conviction of black and Hispanic citizens in Texas and Louisiana. With American and Southwest Airlines headquartered in his backyard, coverage of the airline industry is also a constant for Goodwyn.

As Texas has moved to the vanguard in national Republican politics, Goodwyn has been at the front line as what happens politically in Texas, which is often a bellwether of the coming national political debate. He has covered the state's politicians dominating the national stage, including George W. Bush, Tom Delay and rising GOP star Texas Governor Rick Perry

Before coming to NPR, Goodwyn was a political consultant in New York City.

Goodwyn graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in history.

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: Donald Trump vows that his administration will deport millions of immigrants who are in this country illegally. In Texas, that has frightened tens of thousands of so-called dreamers. They're young immigrants who were brought to this country by their parents illegally and have grown up here, essentially as Americans. Here's NPR's Wade Goodwyn. WADE GOODWYN, BYLINE: Melissa Alfaro sits in the center of her...

Last year, the Texas legislature approved a $350 million cut in Medicaid reimbursement rates to early childhood intervention therapists and providers. The cuts, made to help balance a billion dollars in property tax relief, affect the most vulnerable Texas children — those born extremely prematurely or with Down syndrome or other genetic conditions that put them at risk for developmental delay. For months, providers of in-home physical, speech and occupational therapies have continued to...

It's called sticking to your guns to the noble and bitter end, and it's almost certainly what the Senate majority is going to do when it comes to refusing to even consider President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland. But after the final presidential debate and, given the strong possibility that Hillary Clinton wins the presidency — unless something drastic happens — is this continued refusal to act on the Garland nomination a smart move for conservatives? After all,...

Polls show the presidential race in Texas is closer than it's been in decades, some even showing the two candidates within the margin of error. Does Hillary Clinton actually stand a chance in Texas? It's unlikely, but it could be closer than at any time in the last 20 years. The reason for how competitive the race looks lies in two demographic groups — Republican-leaning suburban women offended by Trump's comments about women and Latinos, who are fired up to vote against him. Suburban women...

They congregated in VFW halls and sports bars, private homes and the back rooms of restaurants — Americans gathered to watch Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump finally go toe to toe. Or to see how the Atlanta Falcons fared against the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome. One contest or the other, the seductive glow of large flat panels drew more than the usual contingent of moths to their Monday night flames. The Clinton crowd At the Hi Tops bar in San Francisco, a crowd of about 100 Democrats...

It's been almost a month since Micah Xavier Johnson murdered five Dallas police officers and wounded nine others following a protest march. In the days that followed, the city's white mayor, Mike Rawlings, and black police chief, David Brown, appeared together openly grieving, offering words of consolation and praising the bravery of their officers. In one memorable moment, Brown offered an invitation to the city's young people: "We're hiring, we're hiring. Get off that protest line and put...

This week in Dallas, a singular work of music is being performed in memory of Tyler Clementi: the 18-year-old college freshman who jumped off the George Washington Bridge in 2010, after his roommate at Rutgers secretly filmed him being intimate with another man and posted about it online. Tyler's Suite is a touring, nine-part choral movement written by team of contemporary composers, including Broadway legend Stephen Schwartz. The songs are based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the...

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Polls are just closing on this Super Tuesday in Georgia, Vermont and Virginia. And NPR's Ron Elving is with us watching results come in. Hi, Ron. RON ELVING, BYLINE: Hello, Ari. SHAPIRO: What do we know at this early stage? ELVING: We do know a little bit even though those polls have just closed. We know that on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is projected to win the primary in Georgia and in...

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: They say everything is bigger in Texas. That's certainly true when it comes to Super Tuesday. One of the 12 states holding presidential nominating contests on Tuesday - tomorrow - Texas has the most delegates at stake. NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports from Dallas about the two Democrats vying for those votes. WADE GOODWYN, BYLINE: Hillary Clinton didn't make it to the Lone Star State last week but sent instead an able...

"My friends, it's Saturday night, this is an emergency transmission. Associate Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia died earlier today at a ranch outside Big Bend in South Texas. ... The question is, was Anthony Scalia murdered?" So begins conservative talk show host Alex Jones' Internet video . Jones then quickly answered his dramatic query "Has the Bill of Rights and the Constitution been murdered?" Yes, he says, yes they have. Jones' video has been watched more than 400,000 times and...

The day David Daleiden turned himself in at the Harris County courthouse, the throng of media there was a good indication of just how much this indictment means to both sides of the abortion debate. Daleiden's attorney Jared Woodfill took full opportunity to express his indignation. "It's outrageous that it's David that has to come and present himself to the court when it's Planned Parenthood who should be on trial today," Woodfill said. "The reality is David is a modern-day hero. He has...

For the past five years, the Texas Legislature has done everything in its power to defund Planned Parenthood. But it's not so easy to target that organization without hurting family planning clinics around the state generally. Of the 82 clinics that have closed, only a third were Planned Parenthood. Midland Community Healthcare Services Clinic in West Texas is open, and every day it's three lines deep as women file in for treatment. The clinic's 15 examination rooms go full throttle all day...